Planners: Wheaton's challenge is finding major office tenant

But optimism is high that plan can be developed to give community unique identity

County planners are hoping they can draw office tenants to fill buildings similar to this one on University Boulevard and Veirs Mill Road, the north offices of Westfield Wheaton Shopping Center. While it is one of the only high-density office buildings in downtown Wheaton, planners say they are aiming to find a major tenant to fill more as the economy turns upward.

Drawing an anchor to downtown Wheaton that can bring office workers and more business to the area is going to be one of the toughest challenges of redevelopment, say planners and county officials.

Some planners say Wheaton was never meant to be the destination downtown of Montgomery County — many believe that title belongs to downtown Silver Spring, which shares a border with Washington, D.C., and is piled high with office space.

Planners also say Wheaton's economy as it stands is tilted too much toward retail. Unlike other urban districts in the county, Wheaton has not added any significant office space over the years, even after a restrictive height limit was removed in 2006, according to a planning board memorandum.

And finally, major offices just are not looking to move anywhere in a recession, planners say. They are staying put and weathering out the storm instead of looking for a market to expand in.

But while Wheaton's odds of pulling in a major tenant are slim right now, planners say there is hope for the future.

Tallant said Wheaton has a major transportation mode in the form of the Wheaton Metro station, established street-grid networks, solid housing stock outside of downtown and a growing identity of an international food market.

But she is not the only one to see the town's positives. Montgomery County Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson has said numerous times that Wheaton has the potential to be a vibrant international community. And County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said redeveloping Wheaton is one of his priorities.

Doing so, howver, is "always easier when money is available," said Gary Stith, the deputy director for planning and special projects with the county's Department of General Services. That's why planners are still scouring the gray skies for a major private tenant.

Stith's presence in sorting out Wheaton's redevelopment is another positive, and it shows the county executive meant what he said, said Natalie Cantor, the director of the Mid-County Regional Services Center.

Stith, who was integral in Silver Spring's redevelopment in the 1990s, comes into his position at the general services just as Tallant is in full-swing updating Wheaton's 18-year-old sector plan, which outlines transportation, environmental and zoning guidelines for the next 30 years.

"Wheaton is getting a full-court press," said Cantor, a factor she considers key to its success.

Another factor planners consider key is developing a detailed plan for Wheaton's redevelopment before — not after — locking down a major tenant.

Stith said planners want to be able to say to potential tenants: "Here's what we're doing. This is real, this is going to happen. You need to be a part of it."

That's the way it worked in Silver Spring, he said. When Discovery Channel decided it wanted to expand from Bethesda, Stith said he was able to present a viable plan for Silver Spring, with commitment from the county and private developers, and explain why Discovery would fit in well.

"There was just an opportunity there," Stith said. "We were in apposition to point that opportunity out."

To have a plan ready could require finding a "master development team" of private developers for downtown Wheaton. County planners such as Rob Klein, the director of the Wheaton Redevelopment Program, are busy compiling a proposal for downtown Wheaton that should be ready by late fall, Klein said, and a team could be assembled as early as the beginning of next year.

Planners say they are hoping the team can help them solve a chicken-and-the-egg dilemma: What comes first, office or residential? And which will draw the other in more successfully? People like to live where they work, and offices like to draw on the residential community, Tallant said.

But whichever comes first, Tallant said she believes Wheaton's office space will be viable when it gets here if it is balanced by mixed-use projects that combine living and commercial.

"It's that mix that keeps the retail and commercial going and active," she said.

Stith said he believes clusters of urban destinations can exist in close proximity by developing their own "niche" and selling point. In Arlington, Va., for example, Stith said downtowns Clarendon, Ballston, Rosslyn and Courthouse exist within Metro stops of each other because each has its own personality.

Same with Bethesda, Chevy Chase and the Interstate 270 corridor, Tallant said.

Planners realize none of the changes will happen immediately.

"We just got to be ready when an opportunity knocks to say, Come on in,'" Stith said.